I woke up at 6 am when Tal's alarm went off downstairs. I packed everything up and was out of the door at 7:30 when he left for work. Not wanting to drift away again, I promised to keep in better touch this time. Thanks for helping me out of my jam, Tal!

I wanted to say goodbye to Raven, but he was a night owl. We had agreed to meet up at 9. To pass the time, I found a local diner with free wifi and picked my route over breakfast. Then I swung by Raven's and we said our goodbyes. Thanks for letting me stay there and for driving me around!

Wanting to make up some time after being stalled a few days, I hit the I-5. I was so excited to be underway without needing to be rescued that I didn't even care that it was the freeway. I tried to outrun the rainclouds. There was a sprinkling of rain, but not enough to see if I'd fixed the hiccup along with the start button. The bike ran great! It was so liberating to finally have everything going my way! I called Ed to let him know the good news - He'd volunteered to come "save my bacon" if I couldn't figure out the problem. It's always great when I can have a plan B.

In Grant's Pass, I got some kerosene and a grout brush and took the time to clean and relube my chain in a Walmart parking lot. it was getting pretty gross. I found it odd that nobody said a word about the mess I was making, but filed that information away for later.

Eventually, I hit the California state line. Goodbye Oregon, you crazy, waterlogged state!

I chatted with another long-distance tourer named Rush in Weed, CA. He was from Alaska and was on his way to Monterey. He was going to try to get there tonight, and it was almost sunset already! Crazy. I found Mt Shasta and Highway 89 near sunset. The view from the rest area wasn't that great.

I did really like the way the sun was hitting the hills on the opposite side of the freeway though... it's neat how it illuminates all the contours.

Darkness fell. Off the 89, I found a promising forest service road east of a small town. The first dirt offshoot I attempted had a gate. While turning around very slowly, I rode over some branches and the bike slipped out of my grasp. Fully loaded, with a full tank of gas, I had my doubts about whether I could pick it up, given how challenging it had been to pick it up previously...

The rack and giant panniers came in useful! With the added height off the ground, I was able to just barely pull it upright. It required a lot of swearing and wiggling as I braced myself against the seat, but I got it done! Woohoo!

I went further down the road and found another dirt offshoot. I am actually pretty glad I attempted this one at night, because I am not sure I would have braved the moon dust if I saw it before I was underway. There were lots of "oh shit" moments. The road itself was straight and flat, nothing crazy, but the dust had me skittering around. More than once I thought to turn back, but I figured that if I stopped I was likely to drop it anyway so I might as well continue. Never before had I been so grateful to see rocks and pine needles, for the traction they provided.

Eventually I came to an "intersection" and barely managed the turn. I found myself in an open clearing dotted with cow shit. Based on the tracks, I guessed this was a spot where people brought truckloads of cattle to graze. It seemed suitable for a nice camp. I started setting up around 10 pm.

I didn't get to sleep until midnight, and then it was fitful. Lower back pain and chill kept waking me up. I ended up wrapping my sleeping bag with the silver tarp and piling my riding gear on top, which warmed me considerably. A tip from the homeless, but it works! Woke up several more times as the tarp moved around which created cold spots.

I slept in late, until 10 am. I didn't sleep very well, so I needed all the extra I could get. I set up my solar panel to charge my droid and spread out my stuff on a nearby helpful thorny bush to dry out the condensation.

In the daytime, the moon dust wasn't as scary, likely because I could anticipate the road up ahead a bit better. It still skittered around, but I didn't have any problems.

Such a late start. I hit pavement around noon, and rode for a while. It was a nice, sunny day, warm enough to not need my liner or thermals. I was glad to be out of the rain.

I stopped for lunch at a nice picnic area near a river. I'd eaten almonds and fruit for the past two meals, so I wanted something a bit more substantial. I don't usually cook lunches because it takes a while to pack and unpack everything, usually an hour or two, but I wasn't in that big of a hurry.

"But wait!" you might say. "That's a lot of different spices!" Well yes. Yes, it is. The penny stove and the sterno enclosure I've posted about before, but I don't think I've gone into my cooking setup.

The main piece is a set of three nesting pans from MSR. I got these secondhand over a decade ago, and they've served me well. I don't need all three pans often, most often I just use the smallest one, but it can be handy to have the larger ones too. They can be used to do dishes, laundry or hair (haven't needed the last two on this trip yet, but have in the past), to give a dog a bowl of water, or to cook for more than one person. The steel cup I use for tea and sometimes soup. The lid of the largest pan can be used as a non-nonstick frypan. Better hope you have a lot of grease, or a lot of patience.

Inside the smallest pan, and into the gaps between the pans, I cram every available square inch full of useful goodies. This is dead space - no matter if the pans are empty or full, they will take up the same area, so it's become a bit of a game to see how much crap I can shoehorn in there.

In the center are my spices. In deciding to carry all this stuff, my reasoning was that "no matter what else happens to me, at least my food will taste good". It's been hard to argue with that. I appear to be carrying at least six different kinds of tea. The spices from the top are: italian seasoning, chia seed, pepper, salt, lemon pepper, granulated onion, cinnamon, cloves, seasoned salt, garlic powder, chipotle pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, cumin, and chinese five spice. I've also got waterproof/windproof matches, a magnesium fire starter, a collection of stolen condiments, taco seasoning, sugar, tea ball, miso paste (instant soup), measuring cup, and utensils.

After my delicious meal, I filtered more water for the road and was on my way.

I wanted to check out Bumpass Hell in Lassen before it got too late, as I'd planned to be past Lassen today. It was already after 4PM. A sign appeared for "Subway Cave" and I pulled over and turned around. I had to check it out! I haven't been inside a cave in a very long time.

I descended into the darkness, my headlamp lighting the way.

The cave was pretty neat! The interpretive signs informed me that it used to be a lava tube. One of the offshoots had some GREAT acoustics, and I narrowly resisted the urge to put on some music and rock out. I twisted my right ankle a bit on the uneven floor, but I didn't think much of it. The roof of the cave was bumpy and streaked with white. Water trickled down in some places.

The cave was not terribly large, and I was soon done exploring. I saw this sign near the parking lot, apparently the rodents in this area have the bubonic plague? I guess that's one way to make people take "don't feed the squirrels" seriously...

When I got back to the bike, it was already after 5pm. I considered my options - no free or distributed camping in national parks. I knew I wouldn't be hiking the 3 miles to Bumpass Hell this late anyways, it would be dark by the time I got back. I decided to look for a place to camp on the way there, to camp outside the park boundary and try again in the morning.

While cruising down the highway, I saw a small sign for "Battleground Reservoir Campground". Sounds promising. The road was nine miles of pleasant, even dirt. I had fun! I even stood up for several miles of the route! Standing up while riding is something I try to work on, when I can. I'm definitely not used to it, and need to build up endurance in some of my leg muscles.

I found the campground, and managed to set up my camp before dark, for once! This campground had no fees. It looked like it might have had fees earlier in the year, but that they probably shut off the water for the winter, and then they stop charging fees in the off season. Suits me fine!

I took advantage of the rare treat of a table, and set up my bluetooth keyboard. I wrote down notes for most of the past week, and then layered up and hunkered down, anticipating a cold night!

That sounds... very advanced. But I can see it might work. Hmm. I might have to try that a little the next time I am on sand.

I am still learning to stand up. I can stand up over dips, and decent quality washboarded road, but I feel like I have... too much steering input? By standing up on rock piles, etc. If it's just a small clump of rocks, and I'm already standing, I can keep doing so, but I feel like my weight being higher makes things more unstable in certain situations, so I turn chicken. It's something I'm working on.

Sounds like a fun trip! See you out there maybe!

When standing, the steering input by the handlebars should be minimized, you should act like you're countersteering with both hands at the same time to try to remain straight as far as handlebar input is concerned. This is where squatting slightly on the footpegs comes in. Now you're steering kung-fu style by shifting your body weight on the footpegs, and doing the "let the bike ride itself" thing as those one guys put it. With your legs not wrapped around the bike, not as "one" with the bike, you can allow it to wallow forward, back, and side to side by having your balance separated from the machine, in spite of some of the center of gravity being higher. This technique saved my ass from some very unforgiving terrain over rocks and sand. One piece of gear that helps A LOT is bar risers. With the bars higher up, it makes this position much more natural.

Glad you survived your ordeal. I almost had something like that happen in the rain in the plains of Texas with the slippery (wet with rain) tar patches on their resurfaced highways. Fortunately I recovered in time to not have to get off the bike, and it happened so fast I don't know how the bike regained balance and traction.

Thought i posted this but alas.... not here anywhere sooo here goes again, this in reference to the Truck passing incident.

Most of the unstability at high speeds comes from too much or too little rake/suspension sag. (it can and does go both ways- there's a sweet spot) When either heavily loading or unloading your bike... also when changing to taller or shorter tires you'll change the angle that your bike is sitting at. Causing the highspeed wobble/shake/oscillation, sooo first put a turn on the rearshocks preload (the spring raising the rear a bit) then test ride her a bit... if better goood. If better but still shaking then go some more. If worse go the other way, back off the preload and test ride her again. Do this until she's rock steady at any speed. Everytime I swap tires to a different style/make/diameter, or change my load I do a fine tune of the sag to get her back to her sweet spot.

Also when pounding agressive offroad I stiffen her up to keep from bottoming etc... then when getting back on the slab I go back to my Hwy setup so she's steady at high speed and in turbulance. The headset bearings seem to stay really solid on these Dualsport bikes as in I haven't hardly touched Desiree's in 62,000mi where as the '99 Concours needed them snugged every 8-10,000mi.

I've ran into guys on thumpers and KTM twins who had just swapped on Dunlop 606's for instance and now had shake, looking at bearings and hating the tires. I point out the larger Diameter of the front tire, have them raise the rear a bit.. and they're goood to go.

Another reason I love the Cogent Moab as it is SUPER EASY to reach in and turn the spring collar using a 9/32" rod bent at an angle and a roller bearing collar.

Anyway Peace,
Jim

Interesting! I'd heard of something like this before, but the stuff that I read was mostly people who had done some serious changes, like 17" wheel conversions. It's fascinating that something as minor as the tire height can have such a dramatic difference!

I will admit that I have been a bit of a lazy bum and haven't checked the sag since I've fully loaded it down. It's just felt so much more stable, and similar to the weight the shocks were supposedly sprung for, that I assumed things were fine. Hmmm. I am not sure how to tell if the rake is good or not?

It's a bit difficult for me to test it like you suggest, because this is the first time it's wobbled like this. There was a bit of a wobble when I first tested the cans, but I found out that was due to improper weight distribution and thought that I fixed it... I will test this when I am on the road again and can get away with occasional speeding.

Quote:

Originally Posted by smash81

Way to go!

Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROAD DAMAGE

Hey Feyala,

Just caught up after being away for a few days.

Wow! Sounds like you had quite the get off ............ and just "shook it off". Way to get back on the horse!

Glad everything worked out as well as it did. Bet your folks were glad to see you too!

ATGATT ................ don't leave home without it! May have a coat that would work for you if you need one. PM me, if so.

Also got a "non-altered" mermite can for you if you can't get the damaged one repaired to your satisfaction.

Glad you got to meet Pete and spend some time riding with him. He's an original, huh?

Regards, Rob

Hey Rob, thanks! Yeah, my folks were glad to see me. They turned a bit pale when I showed them the destroyed pants, but all's well that ends well!

I will attempt to repair things and will be in contact if this is unsuccessful. I appreciate the offers!

Pete is a great guy. He was very patient with all of my bitching.

Quote:

Originally Posted by just jeff

HI Feyala!
I ran across your thread by accident while reading a post on an other site. In two evenings I have read the whole RR and commend you for climbing the steep learning curve you are on. You had mentioned loctiting all the fastners on your bike and I thought I would recomend Loctite 290 which is a green, wicking grade of locker designed to be applied to ASSEMBLED fasteners. Just a small drop on the thread junction will migrate into the threads and then cure, vibration resistant, just like the Blue. This saves much of the labour of disassembling things just to apply the locktite.
Looking forward to following your adventures!
Regards....just jeff

Hey Jeff, glad you're enjoying the ride! I'd never heard of green loctite before! That would save me a lot of time... is it as strong as the blue? How well does it wick in there?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ER70S-2

Ok, I'm in.

If I didn't hear a loud wack when my helmet hit the ground, I'd be ok with continuing to use it. There's been no doubt when my head has hit the ground hard enough to kill the helmet.

Glad to have you along! I remember tumbling and sliding, and my neck's a bit sore, but that's probably because it was tense when I fell. The helmet itself has a small scrape on the back, but not even the chintzy plastic near the scrape is broken. I don't remember hearing a loud whack. Maybe it is fine! That would be great!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zombie_Stomp

When standing, the steering input by the handlebars should be minimized, you should act like you're countersteering with both hands at the same time to try to remain straight as far as handlebar input is concerned. This is where squatting slightly on the footpegs comes in. Now you're steering kung-fu style by shifting your body weight on the footpegs, and doing the "let the bike ride itself" thing as those one guys put it. With your legs not wrapped around the bike, not as "one" with the bike, you can allow it to wallow forward, back, and side to side by having your balance separated from the machine, in spite of some of the center of gravity being higher. This technique saved my ass from some very unforgiving terrain over rocks and sand. One piece of gear that helps A LOT is bar risers. With the bars higher up, it makes this position much more natural.

Glad you survived your ordeal. I almost had something like that happen in the rain in the plains of Texas with the slippery (wet with rain) tar patches on their resurfaced highways. Fortunately I recovered in time to not have to get off the bike, and it happened so fast I don't know how the bike regained balance and traction.

Applying the rear brake is challenging to me while standing. I do have the bar risers, which helps me to not be hunched over in a weird way, but I still quickly sit down if I encounter corners, uphill/downhill changes, etc. I try to stay off the front brake, especially offroad, especially in sand, but the rear is hard to modulate well when I'm on the pegs and it seems too easy to overapply it. I have done some gentle curves as you suggest, using my weight on the pegs to turn, but for sharper corners I lose my nerve. I appreciate the explanation though, it sheds some light on a few things. I guess it's all just down to practice...

It's spooky how quickly it can happen. Faster than you can think. I'm glad you recovered in time!

Good stufffff Fey! Great story...........You know the sag/rake is goood when the bike is rock steady at high speed passing trucks! And yup wheel and/or fork swaps are a sure fire way to need to get things set up properly again, as I had to do with Des'.

Even more crazy sounding but works in a desperate tank-slapper: stand on the pegs, lean forward, and loosen your grip!

Moving the weight distribution forward instantly changes the steering angle and ends that back-n-forth positive feedback energy on the front wheel to eventually allow it to regain its natural gyroscopic stability. There is no way your arms could realistically counter that alternating force (probably make it worse if you tried) so it is safer simply to loosen the grip and let the bike sort itself out. Finally, we all know that standing up when riding in sand or gravel helps to maintain control of the bike even when the entire bike is sliding and wallowing beneath us.

Tankslappers,especially those on tarmac, are the result of the bike and rider reaching a resonant oscillation in some part of the bike/rider system.This is why they often happen at a specific speed but lessen if you go faster or slower.The bike/rider system is like a whole bunch of springs and pendulums traveling down the highway at 80mph.You've got a flexible joint between the rider's center of gravity at around belly level and the bike's CoG near the engine.The tyres flex and the supension moves up and down.Also the steering moves and is linked by the rider's arms to the rider's CoG,but also to the bike's CoG,making it a very complex system.
The reason moving the rider's position,changing tyre air pressure,fixing worn suspension or moving/changing luggage stops tankslappers is because it changes the frequency of resonance.Loosening your grip on the bars reduces the coupling between the rider's weight and the steering mass and can kill the resonance.It's like how lengthening a pendulum's string will change the frequency of it's swings.

Another technique that can kill a tankslapper while it is happening is to drop your torso down onto the tank,this removes much of the flexible joint I mentioned previously, between the bike CoG and the rider CoG.

Hi Feyala!
In answer to your reply:
"Hey Jeff, glad you're enjoying the ride! I'd never heard of green loctite before! That would save me a lot of time... is it as strong as the blue? How well does it wick in there?"
Loctite has many products such as thread lockers and sealants of various colors. Just google "Loctite" and check it out!
The 290 threadlocker which is a thin green liquid holds as well as the blue. It's wicking action works through capillary action like penetrating fluids and will migrate into the threaded joint with no problem. It is somtimes used to seal porous welds and castings.
I wanted to comment on your helmet condition. Even though a helmet can look fine after a crash, visual appearance cannot say if the internal crush foam has been compromised. The helmet is designed to crush internally to absorb the impact force to save you from injury. This may not show up as damage on the outside of the helmet and there is no way of testing the helmet that I am aware of. I spent a week in the hospital with a concussion after a motocross crash and there were no marks on the helmet! That helmet went in the G can. I know good helmets are not cheap but how much is your head worth?
Best Regards and ride safe....just jeff

If you have a big head, I have both a Nolan 102 and a Shoei Syncrotec pop-up helmet I'd UPS you just so you keep your noggin intact and we can continue to live vicariously through you. Both are new, one's a dark blue and the other's Black and both are Male size large.Let me know and have fun. I stopped riding because of getting run over by a drunk and the back damage that combined with old back damage from arresting a very large guy years ago means I just don't have much flexibility left.

Quote:

Originally Posted by just jeff

Hi Feyala!
In answer to your reply:
"Hey Jeff, glad you're enjoying the ride! I'd never heard of green loctite before! That would save me a lot of time... is it as strong as the blue? How well does it wick in there?"
Loctite has many products such as thread lockers and sealants of various colors. Just google "Loctite" and check it out!
The 290 threadlocker which is a thin green liquid holds as well as the blue. It's wicking action works through capillary action like penetrating fluids and will migrate into the threaded joint with no problem. It is somtimes used to seal porous welds and castings.
I wanted to comment on your helmet condition. Even though a helmet can look fine after a crash, visual appearance cannot say if the internal crush foam has been compromised. The helmet is designed to crush internally to absorb the impact force to save you from injury. This may not show up as damage on the outside of the helmet and there is no way of testing the helmet that I am aware of. I spent a week in the hospital with a concussion after a motocross crash and there were no marks on the helmet! That helmet went in the G can. I know good helmets are not cheap but how much is your head worth?
Best Regards and ride safe....just jeff

Applying the rear brake is challenging to me while standing. I do have the bar risers, which helps me to not be hunched over in a weird way, but I still quickly sit down if I encounter corners, uphill/downhill changes, etc. I try to stay off the front brake, especially offroad, especially in sand, but the rear is hard to modulate well when I'm on the pegs and it seems too easy to overapply it. I have done some gentle curves as you suggest, using my weight on the pegs to turn, but for sharper corners I lose my nerve. I appreciate the explanation though, it sheds some light on a few things. I guess it's all just down to practice...

The rear brake thing... me too! I adjust my rear brake pedal way down to the floor so that I can put my foot over it as much as possible when sitting without having to lift my toe in an unnatural way. The kind of riding requiring standing and steering with the feet seems to be a kind of nimble, ginger riding which only requires throttle as needed and some engine braking. Minimal braking seems to be required, so usually the front is safe. It's like when power is needed, use it, and when you're coasting at the desired speed, the obstacles you are overcoming are enough to slow the bike. It's like the offroad version of "pacing", where brake is used minimally. And sand slows down the rider quite a bit. It's down to practice, I fully understand. The fear of the front brake is a big obstacle, in many cases. I am familiar with this. (Especially in cornering in loose terrain where brake is needed.) We're dealing with a realm of riding where there are no stoplights or blocks or lane changes to accelerate or decelerate for, so a lot of it is throttle modulation only.

Damn, I hope to ride offroad with you someday. Not that I'm any better or even think I am. I am just sitting in my offroad theory armchair right now and wishing I had a piece of the action. Your posts drive me further into motivation to get out there!!

Just finished reading the entire thread. Love your adventure, all of it. Thanks for being so open about your life. You're a gifted writer and I have no doubt that you could travel the world and make a living by writing about it.You need a paypal account! I and others here want to buy you some GAS so that we can continue to read about your unique adventure!

Notes about the dynamic vibration which caused your high speed off: It looks to me like the custom designed Panniers are mounted to far aft. Their CofG (Center of Gravity) needs to be forward of the rear axle by several percent, more is better in this case. For your kind of adventure try soft and smaller as this would help too, these are the latest tech ones: http://www.adventure-spec.com/defaul...-panniers.html You've moved the overall CofG of the bike to far aft and thus it's to close to or aft the Neutral point. This will cause instability to develop at a new speed (when compared to the previous configuration) in this case lower.

The rounded corner shape of the custom Panniers may be dangerous and thus cause an Asymmetric lift distribution in a cross wind gust such as when passing at speed and thus excite the dynamics of the total system.

If you don't remodel, then be sure to load all of the heavy item to the front and don't exceed a tested limit.

__________________"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent." -Gandhi

Just finished reading the entire thread. Love your adventure, all of it. Thanks for being so open about your life. You're a gifted writer and I have no doubt that you could travel the world and make a living by writing about it.You need a paypal account! I and others here want to buy you some GAS so that we can continue to read about your unique adventure!

Notes about the dynamic vibration which caused your high speed off: It looks to me like the custom designed Panniers are mounted to far aft. Their CofG (Center of Gravity) needs to be forward of the rear axle by several percent, more is better in this case. For your kind of adventure try soft and smaller as this would help too, these are the latest tech ones: http://www.adventure-spec.com/defaul...-panniers.html You've moved the overall CofG of the bike to far aft and thus it's to close to or aft the Neutral point. This will cause instability to develop at a new speed (when compared to the previous configuration) in this case lower.

The rounded corner shape of the custom Panniers may be dangerous and thus cause an Asymmetric lift distribution in a cross wind gust such as when passing at speed and thus excite the dynamics of the total system.

If you don't remodel, then be sure to load all of the heavy item to the front and don't exceed a tested limit.

Good luck, stay rested and safe.
David

It has also been theorized that excessive unintentional operator input forces increase the oscillations to a point of control failure. The solution advised is to LOOSEN UP ON THE BARS AND RIDE IT OUT. Not easy to do in a panic situation.
Regards....just jeff

It has also been theorized that excessive unintentional operator input forces increase the oscillations to a point of control failure. The solution advised is to LOOSEN UP ON THE BARS AND RIDE IT OUT. Not easy to do in a panic situation.
Regards....just jeff

There it is...

I've preached that exact point my entire riding life (goin' on 50 years on two wheels now). RELAX.

It has also been theorized that excessive unintentional operator input forces increase the oscillations to a point of control failure. The solution advised is to LOOSEN UP ON THE BARS AND RIDE IT OUT. Not easy to do in a panic situation.
Regards....just jeff

I agree if the bike is in the tested stock configuration. However, having moved the CofG aft and thereby reduce the Margin (distance between the CofG and the Neutral point) will lower the speed of oscillation onset and increase its magnitude. It needs an increase in the Margin and a Damper. Fey was fine until the new Head Bearings were installed which reduced the steering friction. There is also the rear steering aerodynamic effect of the radius'd panniers in a cross wind gust.

If I recall correctly, Fey made a comment about how the bike was easier to turn after loading it with all of her gear. This is an indication of reduced Margin and lower stability.

Rule for dirt tires on hard surface roads...slow down or you will crash.

Rule for street tires on soft surface roads...slow down or you will crash.